Estimated time to complete: 1 hour
Section 1 is in the house! Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and let’s get started! (We also have a printable, so don’t forget to download it!)
Section 1: Develop and use a consistent naming schema.
Clients and customers–both current and potential–need to know how to find you, and the easiest way is through your business name. All of your business pages and website need to have your business name in the title, regardless of length. What this means is your website, for example, should always have your business name as part of every page’s title. Your Twitter page should be named your business name. Your Facebook page should be named your business name, and so on.
Part of including your business name on your social media includes what we refer to as your handle. I usually suggest to my clients that they work with a 15 character handle, so if their business name without spaces equals 15 characters, they’re golden. Why 15 characters? Because that’s the max characters Twitter and Instagram allow for. A Cup of Content, for example, is easily changed to the handle acupofcontent (13 characters). I take this acupofcontent handle and use it across all of my social media channels. This helps you from an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) standpoint, too! My Twitter handle is @acupofcontent, my Facebook page is facebook.com/acupofcontent, etc.
So what if my business name is longer than 15 characters…or it’s already taken?
It’s not the end of the world. Let’s take my friend Tim’s real estate photography business, Tim Perry Photography. His website has his business name on every page, and his handle should be timperryphotography. Unfortunately, it’s 19 characters long. Fortunately for him, though, he can shorten it to timperryphoto and it works (and it wasn’t already taken)–and it jives with his branding, too!
Another option you have is to use your business’ tagline. On the off-chance my friend Tim’s handle was already used somewhere, he could use something catchy like ishoothouses. Don’t have a tagline? Now’s the time to create one! It’s good to have something memorable when networking, so it’s a win-win!
So you’re telling me I have to log in to ALL these different social media sites and give it a whirl? Sounds like a lot of work.
Well, you’re right–that IS a lot of work! So that’s why I’m sharing with you my secret source for MASS checking on the status of your handle being available on these sites!
Introducing: Namechk.com
That’s right: you can simply visit Namechk’s website, plug in your handle, and find what social networking sites are available for the handle you want. This is especially helpful if your business name is more than 15 characters, or if you are in the development stage and are trying to brand yourself or your business. It also searches available domains–bonus!
Awesome! Let’s take some action.
I’ve developed a one-page checklist for you to use in taking some action in your first assignment. Print it off and start plugging away!
Up next: Section 2.
Once you’ve completed this section, you’re ready to take on Section 2: THE official how-to for profile images! See you then!